


Bioluminescence

by lillyluna



Category: Swimming RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-05
Updated: 2012-11-05
Packaged: 2017-11-18 01:14:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/555247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lillyluna/pseuds/lillyluna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are things that cannot swim against the current. In which Ryan reads a National Geographics article about plankton and decides to spend his first vacation with Michael in the Maldives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bioluminescence

**Author's Note:**

> It says a lot about how busy they both are that they’ve never been on vacation together. They’ve spent time visiting each other over the years; a week in Baltimore here and a long weekend in Gainesville there but they’ve never gone anywhere together.

Which is a funny thing to say because truthfully, they’ve already travelled the world. They’ve spent so much time in so many cities with each other. Seeing landmarks and famous places from vans bringing them to the pool and in brochures scattered on the desks of their hotel rooms.

It had been tricky to find a place to spend two weeks of Ryan’s time off after London. Two weeks that Ryan had carved out of his endless schedule of television appearances and commercial shoots and reserved for Michael.

They hadn’t wanted to go somewhere they’d already been. They’d wanted their first vacation together to be free of swimming memories. Michael was trying to build a life apart from it and Ryan just didn’t care; they could have gone to Burr Oak, Michigan and Ryan would have been happy.

But Ryan starts talking about the Maldives a few months before London and they kind of settle on it and someone else plans the trip for them. Then they forget about it to focus on training, times and races.

They can’t even fly over together because Ryan leaves from Florida and Michael flies in straight from Scotland.

*

Michael gets there first and it feels weird to be in their private cabana on his own because it’s so secluded from everything that he doesn’t know what to do with himself. There’s a fleeting moment when he convinces himself that maybe Ryan wasn’t going to show up.

He hears Ryan laugh before he sees him and then it’s like Ryan’s all over everything. His studded backpack is by the door and his shoes are in the hallway, his duffel is on the couch and all his limbs are tangled up around Michael.

Because everything about Ryan is kind of like a hurricane.

There’s a bedroom behind curtained glass paneled doors; it has windows that look out on the ocean and a fan that moves the humid air around with lazy circles. It’s where the ice filled champagne bucket, the king sized bed and the basket of exotic fruit wait for them. Ryan prefers pushing Michael against the wall by the windows that give out to the pathway and the hibiscus bush.

“Hey,” Ryan says finally, breaking the kiss long enough to get the words out.

“Good flight?” Michael has to tug on Ryan’s hair to pull him away.

“S’long.” Ryan buries his face in Michael’s shirt, “Missed you.”

“I missed you too babe,” He slips both of his hands down the back of Ryan’s shorts, “Tired?”

Ryan nods against his chest.

“Let’s go to bed.”

“I’m not going to sleep.” Ryan argues even though his eyes are already closed.

“Better not.” Michael squeezes his ass, “I have plans.”

“I got plans too.”

*  
By the time the first champagne bottle is empty Michael’s fucked Ryan over, on or against every available surface in the room. Now the second empty bottle lies on the desk next to where Ryan’s hand holds on for leverage as he rides Michael.

Michael sits in the desk chair with one of his arms slung around Ryan’s back and the other running languidly over Ryan’s chest. Ryan’s head is thrown back and Michael’s pretty sure that watching him is the hottest thing he’s ever seen. He thrusts his own hips up as Ryan comes down, pushing himself in deep and they both groan.

“Fuck don’t stop.” Ryan cries out, “Don’t stop.”

Michael tips Ryan’s head forward to kiss him; once their lips meet he wraps both arms around him pushing himself up faster. Ryan stops kissing him and his head falls back again. Michael licks his neck and Ryan’s skin is scorching.

“So close,” Ryan pleads again, “Keep going.” He grabs one of Michael’s hands and wraps it around his own dick.

Michael’s strokes are quick, his hand rubs over Ryan’s head and the noises and words that leave Ryan’s mouth are so hot he has to try hard to hold out because he knows how close Ryan is.

“So hot babe.” Michael lets out a moan because Ryan’s riding him faster. Michael tightens his fist, “Fuck, come for me Ry.”

Ryan’s hand slips on the edge of the desk as he comes and Michael has to hold him up. The empty bottle of champagne gets knocked to the floor and rolls under the bed.

*

After the third day of pure laziness where they have all their drinks and their food brought to their cabana and they only get out of bed to brush their teeth and shower, Ryan starts to get bored.

“We should go exploring.” He says eagerly at ten am on the fourth day. He’s showered, dressed and standing next to the bed looking at Michael expectantly. “Like go deep sea fishing or hiking or we can play volleyball.”

“Or you can come back to bed.” Michael pats the spot next to him.

“No.” Ryan smiles and shakes his head, “We’re going exploring. Come on.”

“I’ll blow you.” Michael offers

“Like that’s a one time offer deal?” Ryan laughs, “You can blow me on the beach later. I seriously need to get out I’m going crazy in here. I want to do something like… Dangerous.”

That gets Michael out of bed because nothing good’s ever come from Ryan Lochte declaring he feels like doing something dangerous. In the best scenario it ends in angry neighbours; in the worst scenario, it ends in emergency knee surgery.

“How about we just go get breakfast?” He throws the blankets off and stretches.

“That works too.”

“Are you coming to shower?”

“Dude, I’m already showered. You’re the lazy motherfuck-“

“Coming to shower?” Michael tries again.

“Oh.” Ryan finally gets it, “Yeah.”

*

They’ve never spent this much time alone together. On the sixth day Ryan tans on the deck behind their cabana while Michael swims in the ocean a few feet away from him.

“What are we going to do once we go home dude?” Ryan says keeping his eyes closed.

“I don’t know…” Michael answers from the water, “Like I have golf stuff and charity ev-“

“Not your boring retired life dude, like us.” Ryan turns his head this time and opens his eyes to look at him.

“What about us? We’re doing good. We don’t need to like… change anything Ry.” Michael says and realizes right away that it wasn’t the answer Ryan was looking for.

“Okay.” Ryan closes his eyes again and it’s easy to tell that he’s not blissfully carefree anymore, “I just thought we’d like-“

“We’d like what?” Michael pushes.

“No, never mind.” Ryan turns his head away from him, “Just stupid.”

*

One of the best things about Ryan is that he doesn’t hold grudges. He doesn’t bring up their relationship again but the conversation and Ryan’s reaction to his answer plays over and over again in Michael’s head.

He brings it back up two days later when they’ve managed to put on pants and shirts with collars to go out for dinner in the main part of the resort. As they walk up the pathway leaving the seclusion of their cabana Ryan lets go of Michael’s hand and Michael suddenly gets it.

It takes two courses before he brings it up.

“I know you want to talk… about things.” Michael says and it comes out sounding even more stupid and awkward than it had in his head.

“I just like,” Ryan starts and then stops to think, “I don’t want to be a girl about it but I don’t know, I’ve been thinking about stuff.”

“Like what stuff?”

“Like… I’ve been with you since like… I don’t know man, we were what? Nineteen? That’s like ten fucking years.”

“Am I like… Not doing something right?” Michael asks, “Did I fuck up?”

“No…. It’s just. I don’t know… We’re like older and we’re still doing the same thing and it feels like.” Ryan stops again but this time he shakes his head, “I don’t know dude.”

“Do you want out?” Michael asks, “Because I don’t.”

“Yo,” Ryan grabs his hand, “I don’t want out, what the fuck?” He drags his chair closer to Michael and kisses him hard ignoring the dirty stares of the older couple sitting a few tables away, “I just don’t know…”

They go back to eating in what feels like comfortable silence but Michael’s brain is working a hundred miles an hour. He’d never thought about how long he’d been with Ryan, he’d never stopped to think that it had been more than ten years since he’d slept with someone else or wanted to be with anyone else.

Ryan had just stuck and he’d let him.

“What’s up?” Ryan asks, “You look way too stressed out.”

“Did I…” Michael starts, “Do I owe you like ten years of anniversary gifts?”

Ryan laughs and it’s a relief from the serious mood that had settled over their dinner.

“Dude, you owe me like-“ Ryan kisses him again, “I’m good dude.”

*

Two days before they leave Ryan wakes up with a grin on his face that makes Michael nervous.

“What are you planning?” He asks him.

“It’s a surprise.” Ryan grins wider, “You gotta wait ‘till tonight.”

“What kind of surprise?”

“The good kind?” Ryan answers like Michael’s question had been especially stupid, “Don’t worry… I got this.” He winks at him.

“Dude, that never ends well for me.” Michael groans, “Literally every time you say that something goes wrong.”

“No, this will be good.” Ryan reassures him, “I promise…like the best.”

*

After dinner Ryan drags him out to the same boat that had taken them deep sea fishing a few days before except this time they ride out for over an hour and no one pulls out fishing gear.

The sun starts to set over the ocean and Ryan lazily wraps one of his arms around Michael’s waist and props his chin on Michael’s shoulder.

“Where are we going Ry?” Michael asks and he slouches a little so Ryan doesn’t have to be on his tiptoes to lean on his shoulder.

“Just trust me.” Ryan says and his voice is low and insistent, “It’s a good surprise.”

There’s still some daylight lingering when the boat comes to a stop a few meters away from the beach of what Michael guesses is an island. Ryan grabs his hand and leads him through the knee-deep water all the way to the sand.

“Sit.” He tugs down on Michael’s hand.

“This is it?” Michael looks around trying to find something unusual about the beach, “Just like the beach?”

“You just.” Ryan starts to sound frustrated, “We gotta like wait for it to get dark okay.”

“Why?” Michael whines, “We have this like awesome cabin with this huge ass bed and booze and room service and you don’t have to be wearing clothes-“

“Ok slut, cool it for ten more minutes.” Ryan punches him in the shoulder, “Seriously this is important.”

“There’s a beach back at the resort Ry, why are we here?”

“Because!” Ryan says and he really sounds exasperated, “When we tell our children how I fucking proposed to you I don’t want to have to lie because we were naked in bed so wait fucking ten minutes.”

“You’re proposing to me?” Michael repeats the words dumbstruck.

“Shut up and stare at the ocean.”

“Ry-“

“It’s a surprise, don’t ruin it.”

“Ryan-“

“I can still change my mind. Stare at the ocean.”

Michael can’t think of anything smart to say and so he does as he’s told. They sit in silence and Michael notices other people wading into the beach from other boats, they all sit and stare at the ocean just like Ryan and him waiting.

“The whole reason I wanted to come here dude,” Ryan says, “It just has to get dark enough. Just wait.”

When the sun goes completely down and darkness settles around them the water becomes illuminated like someone’s thrown hundreds of sets of Christmas lights into the ocean.

“So like.” Ryan starts, “It’s not Christmas lights… It’s like the planktons have this chemical energy in the water or some shit and when they get washed up on shore they react with the air and whatever chemical energy they had turns to light and that’s why it looks so awesome.“

Michael doesn’t say anything; he puts an arm around Ryan’s shoulders and holds him close.

“Usually they stay deep but they can’t swim against the current so they get washed up to shore. They have like no choice, there’s like millions of them out there. This is the only place on earth.”

Michael takes Ryan’s hand and kisses it because Ryan seems sad, like he feels bad for the hundreds of millions of plankton stuck in the shallow water of beach.

Ryan leans his head on Michael’s shoulder, “I’m tired of our shit man.” He says after a minute, “Like we suck at talking things out. We’ve sucked at talking things out for like ten fucking years and um… Like I want more.”

Michael doesn’t answer because it feels like Ryan’s not done talking.

“I just want to know that this isn’t going to just crash.” Ryan’s head hangs a little after he says it, “I know shit about chemistry dude but like whatever those little dudes have,” He gestures at the ocean, “That makes them glow and shit it’s gonna run out and then I guess they die and I don’t want that to happen to us dude. I don’t wanna run out.”

Michael thinks of speaking up and explaining that they’re not like plankton, that they can swim against pretty much anything and fight whatever is pushing them to shore but Ryan starts talking again.

“I just want it… Without the drama… Like I want a family man, I want kids and like when I look up at the stands in Rio it be cool if you were there… like as-“ Ryan swallows, “Like I don’t know as like mine.” The last word almost seems painful for him to say.

“I want that too.” Michael says it quietly and his words are almost lost over the sound of the waves crashing. “I want it.”

“So you say yes?!” Ryan lifts his head up to look at him.

“You didn’t ask me anything dude. You’ve been talking for ten minutes but you haven’t-“

“You’ll fucking marry me!” Ryan yells out proud.

“Yo, that’s not asking.” Michael grabs the fist Ryan’s pumped up in the air and brings it back down, “That’s telling.”

“Will you marry me?” Ryan asks kind of sarcastically, like it’s totally unnecessary by this point.

“Do you have a ring?”

“Bro, don’t insult me, of course.” Ryan reaches into the pocket of his cargo shorts and pulls out a box, “Here.”

Michael takes it from him and he’s almost afraid to open it because he can only imagine the kind of ring Ryan has chosen.

“Dude, just open it.” Ryan says and there’s a panic in his voice Michael’s never heard before. “Please.”

Michael flicks the box open with his thumb expecting something embarrassingly ridiculous. Instead the band inside is brushed silver with a gold line running through the middle. He looks up to find Ryan kneeling next to him

“I like…” Ryan grabs the ring from the box, “Thought you’d probably like plain silver better… Well it’s not silver it’s platinum but then I was like nah you need some gold in there too because-“ He stops, “You like it?”

“You like get me.” Is the only thing Michael is able to say because it’s hard to speak and even harder to think.

“I pick some shit up after ten years I’m not stupid.”

“You planned this.” Michael suddenly realizes how stupid perfect the whole plan is.

“No shit dude fuck.” Ryan sounds impatient again, “Like-“ He trails off

“It’s pretty fucking perfect.” Michael feels dumb.

“Can you like answer?” Ryan pushes the ring towards him some more, “Like thanks but fuck I’m-“

“Yeah.”

“Jeah?”

“Yes.”

Ryan pushes the ring into Michael’s hand and kisses him long and hard and slow. In a way that makes Michael wish they were the only ones on the beach because he seriously wants this story to have a part they won’t ever be able to tell their grandchildren.

Ryan pulls away too soon though and he sits back next to Michael, leaning his body against him.

“This is so cool man.” He says and gestures at the ocean, “Like I was too nervous to really see it before but fuck it’s awesome.” His voice takes on a more somber tone, “Too bad they’re like dying though, that’s not-“

“How d’you know they’re dying?” Michael plays with the ring he’s sure he’s put on the wrong finger.

“I don’t know,” Ryan shrugs, “I just figured.”

“Maybe they’re just chilling… Like this is where they’ve come to be.” Michael wraps his arm back around Ryan, rubbing his back.

“Yeah, the like tide could pull them back I guess and then they’d be back where they belong.”

“The plankton’s gonna be okay dude.” Michael kisses him, “They’re cool.”


End file.
